


Blackout

by Bugheaddd



Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale - Fandom
Genre: College Student Betty Cooper, Dancing in the Rain, Famous Jughead Jones, First Date, First Kiss, Fluff, Inspired by an episode of Friends, One Shot, Power Outage, bughead - Freeform, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 10:48:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19018363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bugheaddd/pseuds/Bugheaddd
Summary: Jughead Jones was a famous actor, model, and author living in New York to escape the Hollywood lifestyle.Betty Cooper was fresh off the college boat and staying in New York with her best friend for the summer before going back home to Riverdale.What happens when these two get trapped in their apartment complexes mailroom during a blackout?





	Blackout

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching Friends for the millionth time and got a little inspired by 1x07 (TOW The Blackout) where Chandler gets stuck in an ATM vestibule with a famous supermodel. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fluffy little journey!! <3

Betty Cooper had just graduated from NYU and was sitting in her best friend’s cushy New York apartment.

She was staying with Veronica until the end of summer when she would go back home and put her journalism degree to good use.

Betty was bored out of her mind waiting for Veronica to get back from her dinner date and decided to stop and grab her mail from the mailroom.

She stepped into the elevator and headed downstairs.

Betty rolled her eyes as she scanned her keycard to unlock the mailroom door.

When she walked in she brushed past a dark haired man that was collecting his mail while he was on a seemingly aggravating phone call.

“Toni, I appreciate you trying so hard to get me this role but I told you that I want to take a short break. Get out of the spotlight for a year and then step back in.” He said.

Betty thought his voice sounded familiar but couldn’t quite put her finger on where she would have heard him so she proceeded with opening the mailbox.

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not going to become a nobody! I’ve been working my ass off going from filming to photo shoots to interviews and I’m tired! You’re going to drop me? You know what, go ahead and do it. At this point, I don’t give a single fuck!” He shouted before hanging up and running his hands through his hair.

Betty tried to avoid looking at the man by looking through her mail on her way to leave.

She was almost to the door when all of the lights went out and she fell, throwing the mail and hitting the ground.

A few seconds later there was a bright flashlight shining on her.

“Holy shit are you okay?” The man asked as he crouched down next to her.

“I think so... what happened? Why did the lights go out?” She asked as she sat up.

“Power outage. From what I can see out of the window the whole city is dark.”

The man stood up and offered her a hand. She happily accepted and he pulled her up.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You fell pretty fast and your mail is everywhere.”

He pointed his phones flashlight towards the ground and she saw the mess of envelopes.

Betty leaned down to grab her mail and the man picked up the magazine that she had dropped.

He looked at the cover and laughed.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing. Just the magazine cover.”

Betty looked up but couldn’t quite make out who was on the front of it.

She stood up and set her mail on the table in the middle of the room and grabbed the magazine from him.

He shone his light on it so she could see better.

“What’s so funny about it? It’s just a picture of Jughead Jones.”

“Exactly.”

“What’s funny about him?” She asked, still confused.

“Nothing. I’ve just heard that he’s kind of a dick.”

“Well, I don’t believe that.”

“Why not?” The man asked smugly.

She couldn’t see his face but she could tell by the tone in his voice that there was a smirk lingering on his lips.

“I don’t know... he just doesn’t seem like he’d be that kind of celebrity. I feel like he might be a little full of himself but I don’t think he’s a complete dick.”

“Well, that’s your opinion. What’s your name?”

“Elizabeth Cooper, but everyone calls me Betty. And you are..?”

“Forsythe Pendleton Jones the third, but everyone calls me Jughead.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Jughead set his phone down on the table where her mail was so the flashlight slightly illuminated the room.

“Jughead Jones, nice to meet you.” He said as he stuck his hand out.

Betty shook his hand as her eyes searched his face.

The light didn’t help much but she was able to see his facial features enough to know who he was.

“Wow...” she whispered.

He chuckled and then his phone buzzed.

“I have to go but maybe I’ll see you around?”

“Maybe you will.” She said.

He walked over to the door and tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge.

“Shit!” He said.

“What’s wrong?”

“The locks are electronic and the power is out. Looks like we’re going to be stuck in here for a while.”

“I guess I should call my best friend so she doesn’t think I got lost on my way to the gym again.” Betty said.

“How’d you get lost going to the gym? It’s literally right next door.”

“Well I don’t actually live here so how was I supposed to know?!”

“You don’t live here?”

“No. I just graduated college and I’m staying with my friend until the end of summer.”

“Oh!”

Betty reached in her pocket to grab her phone but it in there and then she remembered that she plugged it in before she came down.

“Shit!” She said.

“Do you want to borrow my phone?” He asked.

She nodded her head and he handed it to her.

Betty dialed Veronica’s phone number but she didn’t answer.

A few seconds later a text from Veronica came through.

**_V: Who is this?_ **

_B: It’s Betty._

There was no response for a few minutes so Betty gave him his phone back.

When it rang he didn’t even look at the number and answered it.

“Hello?” He asked.

“You’re not Betty. She called me from this number.”

“Hold on.” He said as he handed the phone to Betty.

“Hey V.”

“Where are you? And who’s phone are you using?”

“I’m stuck in the mailroom. The blackout made the lock not work and we can’t get out.”

“We? Who are you with?”

Betty looked in his direction and he was staring out the window.

“Jughead Jones.” Betty said as quietly as possible.

“WHAT?! You’re trapped in my apartments mailroom with THE Jughead Jones?!?”

“Yeah...”

“Oh my god!” Veronica squealed. “Is he as handsome in real life as he is in the movies?”

“Probably.”

“Ugh, I’m so jealous! Tell me everything when you get out of there!! I have to go.”

“Okay, bye.”

Betty hung up and gave the phone back to Jughead.

“How long do you think we’ll be stuck in here?” She asked.

“I have no idea. Maybe an hour and a half?”

“You think it’ll be that long? I give it half an hour, forty-five minuted tops.”

“You wanna make a bet?” He asked.

“What?”

“Let’s bet on how long we’re going to be in here.”

“What does the winner get?”

“If I win, I get to take you out for dinner.”

“Okay... and if I win, you have to show me the most embarrassing photo on your camera roll.”

Jughead chuckled and shook her extended hand.

“Deal.”

 

Two hours had passed and they were still trapped in the mailroom.

Jughead had made himself busy answering emails and responding to texts and Betty read the magazine that was in Veronica’s mailbox.

She got to the page that was about Jughead and read the article.

‘Jughead Jones: actor, model, and heartthrob. He’s best known for his role as James in the Netflix series Trapped. After his newest movie comes out this fall he wants to take a short acting break. Jones told ET, “I really just want to step out of the spotlight for a little while and focus on writing.” We’ll all miss him on our screens but hopefully we’ll get a peek into his mind from a book!’

“Are you really going to write a book?” She asked.

“Maybe. I’ve always wanted-“

Jughead was cut off when a slight humming noise started and all of the lights flashed back on.

“Oh my god!” Betty exclaimed.

Jughead went over to the door and when he twisted the handle, it opened.

Betty grabbed all of her mail and followed him out of the room.

With all of the lights on Betty was suddenly aware of how beautiful the man standing in front of her was and of how messy she was.

Betty self consciously ran her fingers through her ponytail trying to smooth it down.

“Hey, do you want to go get something to eat?” He asked.

“You already trying to cash in your prize from winning the bet?” She teased.

“No way. This is more of an ‘I’m sorry you were stuck in a dark mailroom with me for two and a half hours’ meal.”

“It’s literally one in the morning.”

“Hunger knows no time, baby.”

Betty bit her bottom lip for a minute while she thought about it.

“Okay fine. But I need to go upstairs and change first.”

Jughead looked her up and down and she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious in her leggings and baggy NYU sweatshirt.

“Why do you need to change? You look fine.”

“I’m literally in my pajamas, Jughead. People are going to judge me.”

“It’s 1 AM and we’re in New York City, nobody’s going to care.”

“You’re not going to be embarrassed to be seen with me looking like this?”

“Not even a little bit.”

Betty shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”

Jughead rolled his eyes at her and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the door and out of the building.

They walked around for a little while trying to find someplace that was open when Betty got an eerie feeling that they were being followed.

“Jughead? Is someone following us?” She asked as she squeezed his hand.

He quickly glanced behind them and saw a couple of paparazzi walking about 100 feet away.

“A few paparazzi. Come on, let’s eat here.” He said as he led her into a small cafe.

Once they got their food they sat down and started to talk.

“So why aren’t you staying in New York? There are a lot of writing opportunities here.” He said.

“My parents own the newspaper back home and it was pretty much always the plan for me to get my degree and go back to work for them.”

“Is that what you want to do?”

“I don’t really know. Nobody’s ever actually asked me if it’s what I want, I’m just told that it is.”

“That’s kind of fucked up.”

“I guess. My mom pretty much has my whole life planned out for me and I’m just supposed to follow along. She’s so mad that I’m still single and she literally has a date lined up for the day I get home. So unless I miraculously find love in the next two weeks, I’ll be going out with someone that I don’t even know.”

“Wow, I’m sorry.”

“It’s whatever. Do you want the rest of my burger?”

Jughead took the half eaten burger from her plate and took a bite of it.

“You have the appetite of a small child.” He said as he took another bite.

“Well, you have the appetite of an entire football team.”

Their laughter was the only sound filling the empty cafe until the lady behind the counter came to their booth.

“Your meals are on the house. I haven’t seen two people so happy to just be around each other in a really long time.” She said.

“Oh! That’s kind of you but it’s really not necessary.” Jughead said.

“Please, I insist. You two go and enjoy the rest of the night, okay?”

“Alright. Thank you!” He said as he slid out of the booth.

They started walking back to the apartment building when they heard a loud crack of thunder and then the rain started pouring.

They ran as fast as the could to get under the awning of a restaurant but they still got soaked.

Betty’s back was against the building and Jughead was pressed up against her.

He looked down at her and brought one of his hands up to brush some hair behind her ear that had fallen out of her ponytail.

Betty bit her bottom lip and his eyes fixated on it, watching the flesh turn bright red under the pressure of her teeth.

Jugheads hand slid down from her ear and rested on the side of her neck while his other hand came up to rest on her cheek, pulling her lip from her teeth with his thumb.

His eyes moved up hers and she was looking at him with the same fervor that he was looking at her with.

Jughead leaned down to rest his forehead on hers and her arms came up to wrap around his neck.

He closed the space in between them, capturing her lips in a soft kiss.

Betty’s hands quickly moved up into his hair to pull his head closer and deepen the kiss.

Jugheads tongue slid across her bottom lips and she quickly opened her mouth to let him in.

Their tongues danced together for what felt like hours but was really just a few blissful minutes.

Jughead pulled away and rested his forehead on hers again.

“Can we go home?” She whispered.

“It’s still raining.”

“So?” She asked.

Betty let her arms come down from around his neck and rested them on his chest, slightly pushing him so he took a step backward.

She left the shelter of the awning and started twirling around in the rain.

“Come on, Jug! A little rain isn’t going to hurt you.” She said as she held her hand out.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Jughead took her hand and she pulled him into the downpour.

They danced around in the rain for a while, laughing and sneaking small kisses.

When the rain started to lighten up they headed back to the apartment building and used his keycard to get in.

When they got in the door they saw Veronica standing at the front desk.

“Can’t you check the tapes, Smithers? She was stuck in the mailroom during the blackout and now she’s nowhere in sight!” Veronica exclaimed.

“V?” Betty said.

Veronica turned around and saw Betty and Jughead holding hands standing in the doorway.

“Oh my god you’re finally back and you’re soaked! What happened?”

“We had a little fun...” Betty offered lamely.

“It’s three in the morning, what kind of fun could you have possibly had that involved getting soaking wet?”

“We danced in the rain.” Jughead said.

“I tried calling but it went straight to voicemail. I started to get worried.”

“I’m sorry, V. Jugheads phone died.”

“And it probably has a bit of water damage now.” Jughead added.

“I’m glad you two were having fun but can we go home now, Betty? If I have bags under my eyes from this I’m going to be mad.”

“I’ll pay for your spa treatment if you do. Go ahead up and I’ll be there in a few.”

“Okay, but don’t be long.” She said as she walked towards the elevator.

“Do you think I could cash in my bet prize tomorrow?” Jughead asked as he turned to face her and put his hands on her waist.

“I’d love that!” She said.

He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips as she melted into him.

Betty pulled away with a smile and said, “Thank god for blackouts.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this little story and I’d love to add more chapters in the future so keep your eyes peeled for that!!
> 
> Check out my tumblr @bugheadsbiscuts and instagram @bugheads.biscuts!!


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